Ponder Post: Rails to the Light Side

I bought Rails to the Light Side by Michael Brenner while at the Minnesota Street Car Museum during our trip this September (post for 10/9/18). The author is a Motorman, i.e., a trolley operator, at both the Connecticut Trolley Museum and the Minnesota Streetcar Museum. I initially thought it was a collection of short stories involving street cars / trolleys; but once I turned to the second chapter I realized I had been mistaken. It was a fictional tale of happenings at a streetcar museum that involved interactions with people from the spiritual world – almost like a seance, scenic rail style.

The best part about Rails to the Light Side, and its strongest feature, is the detail the author provides in the running of a streetcar and the running of a trolley museum. I found it fascinating how the brakes were pressurized and depressurized each day, how a motorman must be trained in the sequence to hook up to the overhead line and the timing on braking to successfully stop in an intended location.  The author was obviously well experienced in a job similar to this operator who ran our streetcar the day we visited the Minnesota Streetcar Museum.

I learned that the quality procedures – practiced to assure all electrical hookups to the cars and to guarantee functionality of the rail switches – were complicated but adhered to religiously. In this tale, the museum had been given a grant to extend its rail line for public use. Extensive paperwork was involved. Deadlines to be met were unwavering. I found the machinations and red tape negotiating to allow the use of taxpayers funds to be eye-opening. The author Michael Brenner clearly knew his subject matter inside and out.

The book reads in relatively uncomplicated grammatical form, almost like a book targeted for a young adult audience. I was puzzled at first on how that simplified verbiage got past an editor. Curious, I searched for the publisher of Rails to the Light Side and found none, surmising the book must have been self-published. (... or perhaps it was published by some ephemeral publication company in the heavens above, based on the tone and gist of the story...) The book is written in first person and the reader feels he is right beside the author be it riding on a trolly in motion along the tracks, visiting the storage shed, or performing needed tasks in the power station or active trolley barn. It is a relatively small paperback book, 5" x 8" x ⅝" thick, 237 pages, large font, and a quick read. It is not rocket science but it is enjoyable, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way. I liked the characters although they could have been developed bit more. Helpful friends repeatedly materializing out of a dense fog in just the nick of time, like avenging souls parading from the realms of the far side, was a corny plot vehicle, but still fun. Because the audience may be limited to a large degree and because the plot was so implausible, I honestly but reluctantly give this book two stars. I learned a great deal and I did enjoy my rides on the trolleys, especially those where we were accompanied by the huge mascot dog, Trolley!